A transsexual built homemade explosives in a hospital to prove she could have been an army bomb specialist.

Angie Dews, caused Southleigh Community Hospital in Brighton Road, Purley, to be evacuated after the discovery of the five devices on January 18 this year.

Dews, formerly known as Mark Camm, pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court on Friday 31 August to three counts of making an improvised explosive device The 43-year-old , who was convicted of manslaughter in 1998 after killing her partner, told police the reason she made the explosives was because she was rejected from the army in the 1990s.

She wanted to be a bomb specialist but failed the exam by two questions.

She said the interviewer asked her minor questions and told her she would never make it as a bomb specialist.

Dews wanted to prove that she could make it in the army which led to her making the explosive devices.

Officers were called to the mental hospital on January 18, after her step mum called the police to say Dews had told her she had a gun and was going to kill herself.

When police arrived at the scene they found the five devices and evacuated the home for safety purposes.

Specialised officers were called to the hospital and confirmed that the items were viable explosive devices.

Dews, who suffers from psychotic episodes which are controlled by medication, was living at the hospital which cares for men and women who have complex mental health needs.

In 2011, the Care Quality Commission said improvements needed to be made so patients got safer and appropriate care to meet their needs and support their rights.

Croydon Magistrates Court heard at a hearing in January this year she had been undergoing a gender realignment and had lived as a woman for a year.

She had been taking hormone therapy medication since 1999 and has had an initial operation to change her gender.

On Friday Dews pleaded not guilty to two further counts of making an improvised explosive device. the court heard the two counts will remain on her file, meaning she will not stand trial for them.

Judge Jeremy Gold postponed Dews sentencing to September 21 for the preparation of psychiatric reports.